Trails Will Blaze

Stop-motion + Real Fire + Real Explosives
Shot in-camera, no shortcuts.

The BBC’s 2026 Winter Olympics film celebrates the trails athletes will blaze, as they smash records and break boundaries at the games. Created in stop motion using real fire and 700 individually 3D-printed athletes, the film sought to push the limits of stop motion, just like the athletes push the limits of their sports. It used an array of experimental combustion techniques and complicated technical procedures to seamlessly weave together the fiery trails of different athletes against scale models of the Italian Dolomite mountains. Creating a dramatic and unexpected fusion of ice and fire.